It may take a second for all of them to get selected, but be patient and it will happen. Enjoy!

If you’ve never read Chip and Dan Heath’s book “Made to Stick“, I’d highly recommend it.

In their book they cover six reasons why some ideas stick in our brains like gum on a sneaker, and others just bounce right off. Those six keys to “stickiness” are to have your idea be/have:

Simple
Unexpected
Concrete
Credibility
Emotion
Stories

The video above is one of the best examples I have ever seen of these principles in action. Elegantly simple, but completely unexpected at the same time while drawing on a deep, real, and emotional thread. Wow.

A few years ago I witnessed three solid, happy families get torn apart because of the father’s addiction to pornography. They got lulled into thinking it wouldn’t affect anyone but themselves (which is the excuse most folks seem to make), they were, however, wrong in the end.

Today, I became a “fighter” and would invite you to do the same. Help them spread the word about just what pornography can do:

http://www.fightthenewdrug.org/

Over on the right side of this page you’ll see a gray, 125 pixel wide column that I hope to fill with a few, worthy products over the next week or so. Along with each advertiser I will write a short post reviewing their site which I will promote on Twitter as well.

If you are interested in getting in on the action, email me with a 125 pixel x 125 pixel image and link to your site. If I like it, I’ll stick it over there free of change. No catch, gotta fill that space with something and this seems like a good way to do it.

Email your ads and links to contact at greggblanchard dot com.

For this example, I am going to use the idea that you are working in an average field and, after normal operating expenses for your business, you are netting $75,000 a year. Not bad. Right?

1) Insurance & Benefits
It has been said that when a corporation hires a new employee, it costs them $100,000 a year to keep him/her on. A huge chunk of that is benefits. While many companies are starting to implement a sharing system where they cover the $3000-$5000 health costs before coverage kicks in, it still costs a company a boat load of cash to offer these benefits. In 2008 the costs for family coverage were $12,680 for family coverage. I am going to be generous and say for a small family with minimal coverage you’ll pay around $10,000.

2) Business Travel
In almost every industry there is travel. Whether it is to meet with clients or negotiate a new deal, or perhaps to a conference or expo, almost everyone travels for business. Let’s say you travel twice a year. Plane ticket – $500, hotel room – $150, car rental – $200, food – $100, other(round of golf, entertainment, etc) – $50. At $1000 a pop, you are looking at $2000 a year.

3) Taxes
Yes, taxes. I’m just gonna be generous again and say 20% (remember, the $75,000 is after business expenses so I am assuming you have tried every trick in the book to deduct everything but the kitchen sink, unless of course you used that new kitchen sink to wash your hands before a meeting). Total for taxes $15,000.

4) Retirement Matching
Oh yeah, that. So you are living the life of your dreams, but unless you put some of this away, you’ll spend the last 30 years of your life wondering how to use a brainsponderscope (what is surely coming after the computer dies out, you’ll probably have to ask your grandkids how to use it). I remember hearing that the typical 401k deal with most corporations is that they match about 50% of your contributions, up to 6% of your salary. So for you, that would be 50% of $4,500 = $2,250 extra you’ll have to put away.

5) Mortgage Interest Rates
Ah yes, you want to but a house but because you are self employed, you probably wont get those fabulous interest rates advertised in banner ads, even if you put down a down-payment that could feed a third world country for a week. An estimate a realtor friend of mine made was that you’ll pay upwards of $7500 more a year (both in interest paid and lost interest from a giant down-payment not being in an account earning interest).

Ok, so let’s do the math. You are are working your hardest and you tell people you make over $75k a year. Awesome, but after all is said and done…let see, carry the one, subtract 5, and bam, you are actually making ($10,000 + $2,000 + $15,000 + $2,250 + $7,500 = $36,750) a total of $38,250. Not bad, but not that good either.

Self employment is great, but be smart about how much it really costs and how much you will really make.

I recently wrote a review of 5 of the best wordpress plugins that would instantly turn a blog into a membership site. At the time I ranked Wishlish Member as the top plugin…and after a recent purchase from them, I still do. Let me tell you why:

SUPPORT
I had a question about the plugin before i purchased it. I submitted a ticked at midnight and had a response by 11am the next morning. Not only was the response quick, it was incredibly thorough and actually encouraged me to ask more questions if i had them.

TRAINING
Wishlist Member comes with a huge library of not only videos, but step by step screenshot tutorials showing you exactly how to install, setup, and integrate the plugin with payment systems like Clickbank, PayPal, and other shopping carts. Very impressive. Very thorough.

PRICE
At $97 for one license, and $297 for unlimited licenses (there is also a OTO for 3 licenses at $197), it isn’t the cheapest plugin, but the features are well worth the price.

FEATURES
A sidebar login widget, customized redirection for any action imaginable, super fast install, easy PayPal IPN integration, and lots of customizable features make the price seem like chump change when you compare it to other plugins.

I give this plugin 5 stars…not only the software itself, but also the support and guys behind the scene. Awesome.

Click here to get Wishlist Member

My design has been a slow progression. Which is why I am showing you why and how i did what I did to help those that decide to do their new website designs on their own to have a few tips and tricks to help them.

In a world where viral videos are taking more and more time to create and plan. This one takes the cake.

If you’ve never heard of ROWE…well…you probably have but just didn’t know there was an acronym for it.

The abuse of electronic messaging systems (including most broadcast media, digital delivery systems) to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately.

And as formal and lovely as that sounds…I’ve always felt it to be a bit incomplete.

So…how do YOU define SPAM?